Three of the stars of Still Game have joined forces for a hard-hitting new stroke awareness advert which they filmed just months before one of their own fathers suffered one.

The ad features the actors who play Navid, Isa and Bobby the barman in the hit TV show – although they are not in character. For Jane McCarry, who plays Isa, the issue became very personal when her father James suffered a stroke after filming.

“It was just a few weeks ago. He's nearly 91. Before that he was winning bowls tournaments and picking up my kids from school. It's the first thing that has really hit him hard,” she said.

“My dad's not bad at all. His speech wasn't affected but down one side on his arm has been affected. He can still walk but is shuffling a wee bit. He's doing his physio and doing his best. He's really determined.

“It was a complicated story because he was in hospital for something else. He kept saying his arm was strange and they thought it was maybe to do with other things so it was a wee while before he was diagnosed, but it got caught and he is doing okay.

“He was in a stroke ward for quite a while and we got to see quite a lot of young people where it really did have a devastating affect on there lives – they couldn't get up and couldn't speak.”

As well as her father, her husband's best friend suffered a stroke in his early 40s and her uncle Frank around two decades ago.

“He hasn't been able to speak, my uncle Frank, for it must be about 20 years. He must only have been in his 50s. He hasn't ever fully recovered,” she added.

“Because of Still Game we all get asked to do a lot of things. You can't do everything, it's not physically possible so you try to pick things that you feel that your support would be a real advantage to them, and something that's personal. This for us was a no brainer. We all wanted to take part and do as much as we could.”

The advert was filmed in Aberdeen in March by national charity Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) in partnership with NHS Grampian as part of their FAST! (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) campaign.

The scene is set in a traditional pub and stage and screen veteran Ian Sexon plays Donald, a man who has a stroke, whose friends fail to immediately recognise the signs until the barman realises he is having a stroke and calls for an ambulance.

Ian spent some time with people who have had strokes as part of his research for the part.

“I was hugely inspired by some of the stories I heard about people who have made incredible recoveries after having a stroke, but the overwhelming message was the importance of getting medical help quickly as this can make the difference to the outcome,” he said.

“The advert is set in a traditional Scottish pub to highlight that people can reduce their risk of stroke by paying attention to risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, exercise, diet and alcohol intake. If we can reach as many people as possible and raise awareness of the symptoms, I know this will make a difference to the lives of people in Scotland.”